Martyn Irvine said he enjoyed the non-sporting aspects of the US lifestyle a little too much, suffered from a lack of motivation for road race and did not take to training at altitude. But he is very grateful to Unitedhealthcare for giving him a place on such a fantastic team.
Having upped sticks from the US criterium scene to settle back into the familiar surroundings of track training in Mallorca, Martyn Irvine says he is at peace with his life changing decision to leave the US behind. A place with Unitedhealthcare would have been the opportunity of a lifetime only a couple of years ago but it simply did not work for him on a number of levels.
I left you after I had somehow pulled a World Championships medal out of my backside at the start of the year, and that's exactly how I feel.
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World Champs medals are hard to come by. I had the minimum amount of track time and a below average build up. The only thing that got me that medal was the desire to have it
After the Worlds, my road season started off in Taiwan with a stage race and after that I was a blow-in, B-string crit rider in the US.
Unitedhealthcare have an awesome team and it's pretty hard to even get a start with them in the first place. Honestly I never really got going with the crit guys and I'm not really sure why.
I know I have the engine to do the job but mentally I wasn't there. I was willing and able to do what the guys asked but if I wasn't asked, I didn't do.
It's weird. A few years ago I would have snapped someone's arm off to get on the best crit team in the States.
I owe a lot of thanks to everyone at Unitedhealthcare because they let me be part of their team, an awesome team with awesome sponsors.
You can probably guess by my last sentence that I won't be riding with them next year... 2015 is a work in progress.
With my season spent in America and flying in and out of Colorado, I found myself loving the lifestyle. Problem is, it was the more the social side of the lifestyle; burgers, burritos and heaps of nice food as well as beer, fountain drinks and free refills!
All very dangerous and for anyone who knows me, I don't need much convincing.
There is just bigger, buttery-er and yummy-er food everywhere. However, on the flip side there was also easier access to healthy organic foods.
Riding in the colours of Unitedhealthcare, a team Irvine says he is very grateful to for putting their trust in him for two years.
There was a natural grocers within walking distance of our apartment building and my banana smoothie ideas were born and bred in the shop.
I bought hundreds of bananas, bags of berries and gallons of juice. Smoothies were my lunch six days out of seven. So, although I over indulged in some of the awesome bad food I also had the luxury of being super healthy when I wanted to.
Colorado itself was where I struggled. I loved the place but it took me five to six months to realize that I wasn't dealing that well with the altitude.
When I'm training I'm a bit of a numbers buff. I know what my zones are and I go with it. I know at X power output my heart rate should be Y.
I also knew that the lowest point of Colorado was 1,500 metres high and on average I'd be training around 2,000 metres so I would have to adjust things. The problem was my heart rate was always a zone above my power and it never really adjusted.
I kept at it and listened to everyone’s advice that "altitude training is awesome". For me though, it wasn't.
Although living away in Colorado I had one really big focus; the Commonwealth Games. They are as rare as the Olympics and for 25-30 per cent of world they are just as important.
I had good memories of the last games in Delhi, India. I won a bronze medal in the team pursuit and got engaged to Grace at the same venue.
This time around in Glasgow I wanted to make some new memories. My prep for the Games followed a similar pattern to that I have always used. One month before the event I headed to Mallorca to get on the velodrome.
I did a similar training plan, only I added in some extra work on the mass start bike. I really busted myself in training. Motivation is my biggest fuel when I'm on the bike and the thought of standing on a podium is the biggest incentive.
Irvine was chosen as the flag bearer for the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games team, but he underperformed and went back to the US as quickly as he could to take stock of his career.
My target in Glasgow was to get a medal from either the points race or the scratch race. Hindsight is an awesome thing and looking back I knew well I wasn't where I should have been.
Across the board my numbers were down but I just kept shaking it off; positive thinking and all that.
Next stop was Glasgow. I have to say I really enjoyed being part of the Northern Ireland team.
It was great - friendly familiar faces everywhere. When the meeting and greeting was done I quickly got my bearings; where the track was, where the food hall was and where I would be living for the next two to three weeks.
I had the pleasure of rooming with Frazer Duncan. I know Fraz from the cycling scene back in Northern Ireland and we get on pretty well. I think we're both reasonably low maintenance.
The racing soon came around and this is where I was hit in the face with a big smack of reality. I wasn't going well. Being honest, I can't actually remember how the races went.
Two things I can remember; losing laps in the races and being way out of my depth. I don't even know where I finished in either of my events.
In another way I felt really bad. I had let down the whole organisation that had brought me here. I had wasted Brian Nugent's time in Mallorca and there is a long list of people who had helped me get everything I needed to be in Glasgow.
For weeks I had a sick feeling in my stomach and even thinking back now I still have it. Yet again, hindsight is great.
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The racing I was doing was different. I was one man from Northern Ireland and I was racing multiple teams with two or three strong riders.
Now the dust has settled I think I wasn't going too bad, it was just the scenario I was in. The racing I'm used to is man Vs man and it’s pretty head-to-head stuff.
The racing in Glasgow was unique and rare for me and let me tell you, I learnt a lot.
Living in the US but competing on the track in Europe, the travel took its toll and was a factor in deciding the American dream was over.
A lot was about to change for me.
With the help of Neenan Travel I got out of Glasgow in record time. Once I racked my brains and chatted to a few people to help me decide what to do I was gone, almost instantly. Selfish me, but my head was done.
I watched the rest of the team compete from Denver.
Back home in Denver was weird. I was back with Grace and enjoying just floating about.
I had a few crits with the team and was half training but my head was going around in circles. With the track season approaching I had to hurry up and make some decisions.
The main factor was that I was in America and three out of the four major track races I was going to do this season were that side of the globe.
The problem was, I couldn't be arsed training in Denver.
It goes back to the numbers again. I just wasn't getting any positive feedback from the numbers and I literally couldn't do my max efforts without going cross eyed and struggling to breathe.
My mental state was like this for a good three weeks then we pulled the trigger, big style.
With me the main instigator, we decided to leave America.
With no contract next year and lack of motivation, I had to do something. It’s actually amazing what you can get done in a short amount of time.
Irvine has a real chance of an Olympic medal and may look back on the decisions of the past few weeks as being some of the best he has ever made.
From being pretty rooted in Denver to leaving took us ten days. Grace handed in her notice, we sold the car, we sold anything we could from the apartment; bed, TV, appliances etc.
We scraped together the money to break our lease and got the ball rolling with Cycling Ireland to expect me back in the national track program full time.
I heard through the grapevine that the only reason I returned to the track program was the lack of contract for 2015. But that couldn't be further from the truth.
My mind was well made up before I got the news from the team. I’m a good road rider at best and the best track rider on my day; it just makes sense. I love the track.
It’s actually funny how things just happen for the right reasons. Everything is linked. It’s all meant to be.
David McHugh and Brian Nugent are the two people that helped us take the plunge. They probably won't thank me for saying this but it’s true.
Grace, myself and these two had a few Skype calls and numerous emails just shooting the shit. And although our decision was fast it wasn't rushed.
Andy Sparks, Sarah Hammer and some staff at the Sports Institute of Northern Ireland were all people we looked to for advice. In the end though we had to bite the bullet and go with our gut.
All of a sudden we were in Ireland. We didn't spend that long at home because there was so much to do.
I did meet up with people from the Irish Sports Council, Cycling Ireland and SINI with the goals of getting our heads sorted out and fixing my body at the same time; dodgy hip and all that.
Irvine at the start of his tenure with Unitedhealthcare; there's been a lot of ups and downs and some very nice medals since then.
I feel bad for Grace’s mum Breda. We turned up out of the blue and stayed at her house, ate, slept then left.
Hopefully she doesn't hate us for it but we have an awesome time at her place. She’s so accommodating and we would be lost without her help.
Finally we got where we were going; Mallorca.
I’m kinda back full circle from the first blog. There’s only so much I can say but my omnium training is going well. It’s only just hit me that it’s just over four weeks ago that we left Denver. It’s slightly scary.
I’m well settled into Mallorca. I’ve been collecting some quality miles and put in some good work on the track.
There’s no doubt now that getting out of Colorado was right for me. Everything just happens so much easier now. I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the track season.
Next up for me is the Three Days of Aigle in Switzerland. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.
Martyn Irvine's blog can be found at martynirvine.blogspot.ie
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